I just found out that this song hasn't been part of this weekly series yet.
Unbelievable!
It's truly one of my all-time favorites and I'm convinced that this song belongs into every swing music library.
During the swing era, the demand of new music was so big that it was quite common to take a popular song or a classical melody and create a swing version of it.
For this tune, Benny Goodman chose a classical piece by Niccolò Paganini.
Let's first listen to it:
Caprice No. 24
performed by Alexander Markov
On Wikipedia I found the following:
It is widely considered one of the most difficult pieces ever written for the solo violin. It requires many highly advanced techniques such as parallel octaves and rapid shifting covering many intervals, extremely fast scales and arpeggios including minor scales in thirds and tenths, left hand pizzicato, high positions, and quick string crossing.
And now the Swing version by Benny Goodman:
Caprice XXIV Paganini
I guess, Benny Goodman didn't choose the song because of its difficulty but because it has a beautiful melody line. Although his clarinet solo parts are very virtuos.
What else can I say about this tune: five stars rating!
Title: Caprice XXIV Paganini
Artist: Benny Goodman
Recorded: 1941/1942
Tempo: 189 bpm
Dance: Balboa, Lindy Hop
You can find all the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist.
Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw
Do you have this tune in your library? What do you think about it? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
[…] Music for Lindy Hop, Balboa & Blues dancers: DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #211: "Caprice XXIV Paganini" by Benny Goodman (1942) […]